AFL chief warns of FTA coverage decline in 2017

Gillon McLachlan, chief executive of the AFL, has said that free-to-air coverage of the Aussie rules football competition is likely to drop in 2017 after revealing that Australian commercial broadcaster Channel 10 is unlikely to acquire a rights package.

In August 2015, commercial broadcaster Seven, pay-television operator Foxtel and telecommunications company Telstra signed a six-season deal, from 2017 to 2022, worth Aus$2.508bn (€1.74bn/$1.9bn).

Foxtel was given the option to sell on an 11-game package, featuring Saturday afternoon matches, to a free-to-air network. Channel 10 had been sounded out as potential platform, having broadcast coverage of the AFL between 2002 and 2011.

However, according to the Guardian newspaper, McLachlan said that a deal now looks unlikely.

“That’s my understanding,” McLachlan said. “I don’t have a documented basis for saying it but it looks like Channel 10 won’t be taking up that option next year.

“So that would be 11 games less on free-to-air than 2016. There was an option there for a free-to-air broadcaster and we thought it was more likely than not… it hasn’t turned out to be [the case].”